Part 8

Part 8, Note 20

Galveston Daily News, November 30, 1870, December 1, 1870, December 2, 1870, December 3, 1870; Houston Daily Union, December 1, 1870, December 2, 1870, December 3, 1870, December 7, 1870, December 9, 1870, December 10, 1870, December 12, 1870, December 13, 1870, December 14, 1870, December 17, 1870, December 19, 1870, December 22, 1870, December 24, 1870, December 27, 1870; Tri-Weekly Houston Union, December 9, 1870; Colorado County Election Returns, Secretary of State Records (RG 307), Archives Division, Texas State Library, Austin; Roster and Record of Iowa Soldiers in the War of the Rebellion Together with Historical Sketches of Volunteer Organizations 1861-1866, six vols. (Des Moines: 1908-1911), vol. 5, pp. 485, 920; Colorado County District Court Records, Criminal Cause File No. 869: State of Texas v. John Davis. Across the district, Tendick got 1762 votes to Thompson's 1628, and Shoemaker got 1774 to Arnim's 1620. In Colorado County, Tendick got 1283 votes, Thompson 1071, Shoemaker 1276, and Arnim 1080. The Democratic candidates actually carried Lavaca County, in Thompson's case 557 to 479, and in Arnim's 540 to 498. For information about Thompson's 1869 campaign for lieutenant governor, see [Hempstead] Texas Countryman, August 13, 1869; Galveston Daily News, August 19, 1869; Hempstead Weekly Countryman, September 17, 1869, November 26, 1869.
Tendick, who was born in Prussia on June 19, 1837, came to the United States in 1856. After first settling in Illinois, he moved to St. Louis, Missouri. There, he joined the Union army, rising to the rank of lieutenant and serving as quartermaster for the 30th Missouri Infantry. He was discharged with that unit at Columbus in 1865 (see Colorado Citizen, November 15, 1888). Shoemaker, who had been born in Indiana on February 18, 1839, was elected lieutenant in the 38th Iowa Infantry on August 11, 1862. He held the same rank in the 34th and 38th Consolidated Iowa Infantry after that unit was created on January 1, 1865. He was wounded slightly in action at Fort Blakely, Alabama on April 9, 1865. He came to Texas with his unit the following month, and was released from service, with the rest of his unit, at Houston on August 15, 1865 (see Eighth Census of the United States (1870) Lavaca County, Texas, Schedule 1; Sammy Tise, Lavaca County, Texas Cemetery Records (Hallettsville, 1985) vol. 2, p. 35; Roster and Record of Iowa Soldiers in the War of the Rebellion Together with Historical Sketches of Volunteer Organizations 1861-1866, vol. 5, pp. 485, 841, 920).
The returns of the election provide more evidence that the 1870 federal census takers severely undercounted Colorado County's population. In Colorado County, 2402 people cast ballots, more than twice as many as the approximately 1040 who voted in Lavaca County. However, according to the 1870 census, Lavaca County contained 842 more people, and 413 more males, than Colorado County. Noting that females were not eligible to vote, and estimating that one-fourth of the male population was under the legal voting age, then Colorado County's voter turnout was an extraordinary 75%, and Lavaca's a more believable 30%.